Office of the Historian

856.48/12–744: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, December 7, 1944—7 p.m.
[Received 9:20 p.m.]

10836. For Department and FEA. ReDepts 10130, December 2,75 Embassy’s 10779, December 6 and previous related telegrams.

Present situation concerning relief shipments to the Netherlands is as follows:

1.
ReDepts 9255, November 476 and Stockholm’s 4350, October 25 to Department.77 The relief proposal which is now most likely to be approved involves sending two Red Cross ships from Sweden. Ships would be unloaded at Delfzijl, instead of Amsterdam as originally [Page 295] intended. German consent to use of Delfzijl is contingent on supplies being loaded on barges chartered by Swedish Red Cross, barges then to proceed up Zuyder Zee under safe conduct guarantee. British are prepared to give safe conduct except as regards mines for vessels from Sweden but can not for operational reasons give unconditional safe conduct for barges. Present suggestion which will probably be accepted is that if barges are clearly marked and proceed in convoy an assurance will be given by British that every effort will be made not to attack them.
2.
ReDept 9467, November 11.78 Question of distribution of goods have been complicated by recent secret report received by British concerning Dutch Red Cross. According to this report, the character of the organization has changed for the worse, most of the Dutch members have resigned, Red Cross trucks and oil have been appropriated by the Germans and organization is now considered thoroughly unreliable. In view of this development, German proviso that distribution be handled by German and Dutch Red Cross organizations was considered impossible even by Dutch themselves. Last week, suggestion that two members of Swedish Red Cross resident in Netherlands distribute the relief goods was made by Dutch as possible solution. British understand Germans have agreed but have requested confirmation. Swedes mentioned are a Mr. Rosenberg, former Swedish Consul in Amsterdam and a Mr. Walter Ekmann, head of a large Netherlands-Swedish seed distributing company.
3.
It is probable that proposal in form outlined above will be approved although it must still be submitted to the Prime Minister and General Eisenhower.79
4.
ReDepts 10130, December 2.80 British wish to experiment with Swedish ships before giving approval to shipments from Portugal. However, if Swedish shipments can be satisfactorily handled there would probably be no objection to later shipments from Portugal. Earlier proposal to send Red Cross ship down Rhine was disapproved by General Eisenhower for operational reasons. ReEmbs 9597, November 4.81
5.
Embassy will keep Department informed.

Winant
  1. See footnote 74, above.↩
  2. Not printed.↩
  3. See last part of footnote 58, p. 287.↩
  4. Not printed; this telegram notified the Ambassador in the United Kingdom that the Department was agreeable to such arrangements for the forwarding of food to the Netherlands as might be practicable from a military point of view; also that while the Department would prefer that supervision over distribution would be exercised by a neutral agency, it was willing to agree to supervision by the German and Netherlands Red Cross (856.48/11–444).↩

  5. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces in Western Europe.

    Telegram 11351, December 21, from London, informed the Department that British authorities and General Eisenhower had approved the proposal to send two ships from Sweden to the Netherlands (856.48/12–2144).

    ↩
  6. See footnote 74, p. 294.↩
  7. Not printed.↩